Network-based applications can utilize a local client application that interfaces with one or more remote data providers to obtain data of interest. As an example, a remote data provider may comprise an application server, such as Adobe(R) ColdFusion(R), available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose Calif. The data provider can utilize application logic that defines how the data provider responds to queries. For example, for a ColdFusion(R) server, a CFML code file can define logic for accessing data from a database or other resource and packaging the data into logical units, such as software objects, that can be used to return data to the client application.
A persistence framework can comprise software components that bridge the gap between the representation of the data as logical units as handled by the data provider (e.g., as software objects in memory) and representation of the underlying data in a database. For example, the persistence framework can rely on persistence metadata to construct database queries (e.g., SQL queries) and to associate data returned in response to queries with respective parameters of the logical units (e.g., object parameters). The persistence framework may represent components or processes included in the application server or may represent a separate component invoked by the application server.